The Lowest-Ranked Hero Has Returned

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]

Chapter 63: Interlude – The Moon Trapped in the Mirror

[Announcement of the midterm results for the warrior department.]

[1st place: Yuren Helios]

[2nd place: Maurice Jean]

[3rd place: Camilla Vedice]

The hologram displayed on the Hero Watch screen.

Seeing my name, "Yuren Helios," proudly listed as 1st place, I sighed in relief.

“I got 1st place….”

Was it really me who broke the bell of the unicorn?

What if I was mistaken?

I had collapsed and passed out, without any time to rack up points.

What if I ended up with zero points by the end of the exam?

As soon as the test ended and I opened my eyes, these anxious thoughts flooded my mind. It wasn't until I checked my report card on my Hero Watch that I could finally relax.

“What about Dale…?”

I scrolled down the ranking list, searching for Dale's name.

Not in the top 10, nor the top 20.

“No way….”

With trembling fingers, I kept scrolling down, until at the very bottom of the report, I saw the name "253rd place: Dale Han."

“…Dale.”

A chilling sensation ran down my spine.

Staring at Dale's name at the bottom of the list, I anxiously bit my lip.

‘It's my fault.’

I had lost control at the end, letting loose too much power, and my attack must have caught Dale in the crossfire.

“What… what should I do…?”

Although it wasn't against the rules for candidates to sabotage each other during the exam, my attack had far exceeded any reasonable "sabotage."

“…I’ll have to apologize to Dale later.”

Worry crept in as I thought about whether this incident might strain my relationship with Dale.

“Hah.”

I sighed deeply, pacing around my overly spacious dorm room.

“For now… I’ll contact Dale tomorrow.”

There was someone I needed to contact before Dale.

“……”

Silence filled the room.

Swallowing hard, I turned on my Hero Watch.

As the hologram screen appeared before me, I clicked on the contacts button, and a few names popped up.

The very first one.

I slowly moved my finger towards the name saved as ‘Mother.’

“……”

My hand hesitated in front of the name.

After a moment of silent contemplation, I closed my eyes tightly and pressed the button.

Ring, ring, ring.

A clear, bell-like sound echoed.

My heart raced as tension filled me.

[What is it?]

In the hologram window that appeared, my mother's face came into view.

Rosanna Helios.

She was the current head of the Helios family and a former hero once known as "Rosanna of the Flash."

I looked at my mother's face on the screen and cautiously spoke.

“Well… we had the midterm exam recently.”

[Did you?]

“Yes. So… um, the results came out today, so I’m calling to let you know.”

My mouth felt dry as if it was parched.

The sound of my heart pounding echoed in my head.

“I barely made it, but… I got 1st place again.”

[Barely?]

“Ah… well, there was a really strong competitor this time!”

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[A competitor? Do you mean that Maurice Jean, that republican mutt? Or could it be Camilla Vedice?]

“N-No! Someone else!”

I shook my head frantically and continued.

“My friend Dale, he's amazing! He even beat one of the instructors in a duel, and during the recent demonic beasts incident, he took down dozens of demonic beasts all by himself!”

[Hmm. I’ve never heard of him.]

“He’s been hiding his abilities due to certain circumstances until recently. Now, everyone at school is talking about him!”

[And so?]

“Well… I still won.”

It was close, but…

It was dangerous, but…

In the end, I broke the unicorn's bell before Dale.

As ‘Yuren Helios.’

I became 1st place.

‘So….’

I wasn’t asking for much.

I didn’t want anything grand.

Just once, even just once, I wanted her to….

[Ha.]

A cold sneer cut through the air.

[Are you really bragging about that?]

“……”

[In a mere candidate’s exam, you barely scraped by against some nobody, and you think you’ve won something?]

Mother clicked her tongue and continued.

[If you were truly Yuren, there wouldn’t have been anything close about it.]

“……”

There it was again.

That name.

Yuren, Yuren, Yuren.

How much longer do I have to struggle, just to live up to that shining, radiant name?

[Hah. Truly pathetic.]

The heavy sigh she let out pressed down on my chest.

[By the way, did your ‘Stigma’ get exposed during the exam?]

“Oh… no. I hid it well, as usual.”

[Good. Be sure never to let anyone see it. It would disgrace the Helios family if anyone discovered that the heir bore the Stigma of the Moon God.]

“……”

It hurt.

Every word Mother spoke cut deeper than any well-sharpened sword, slashing through my heart.

[Is that all you wanted to say?]

“Ah… yes.”

[Don’t contact me again with such trivial matters.]

Click.

The call ended.

A silence deeper than death settled over the room.

Why?

Why did this dorm room I’ve lived in for the past three years suddenly feel so unfamiliar?

It felt too large, suffocatingly lonely.

“……”

The ticking of the wall clock echoed like thunder in the silent room as I wandered towards the bathroom.

There, a large mirror hung over the sink.

I carefully removed the pendant hanging from my neck.

Woooong.

A soft blue glow surrounded me as my radiant, golden hair turned silver.

My limbs grew slender, and my chest gently rose into a soft, rounded shape.

Etched over my chest was the Stigma of the Moon God, like a branded seal.

“…Yurina.”

I reached out and touched the reflection of my face in the mirror.

The unfamiliar name, one no one called anymore, escaped my lips.

“They said you got 1st place in the midterms?”

The reflection in the mirror smiled brightly and nodded.

“They say the exams get much harder starting from the third year. How was it?”

The reflection answered.

Yeah, it was really different from the first and second years.

They even released demonic beasts into the testing area, and we had to hunt them down for real!

“Were you scared?”

I was so scared! Especially when that unicorn suddenly charged at me with its eyes blazing! I thought my heart would stop!

“Really? You didn’t run away, though. You fought.”

Well… I really wanted to win.

“Against Dale?”

…Yeah.

“How was it, going up against Dale?”

He was really incredible.

I can't fathom how he fights so well with less than half of my mana.

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]

“That must have been tough.”

Yeah, it was tough.

Really... really tough.

“But you still won, right?”

Haha. I'm not sure if I can call it a win when I just overpowered him by brute force due to the difference in mana...

“Don’t say that, Yurina. Your mana is still your strength, right? No matter the method, this victory is something you earned.”

...Is that... really true?

“Of course. Oh, though it was your mistake not to control your power properly and causing harm to Dale.”

I’ll definitely apologize for that tomorrow!

“Good. Dale will understand, so don’t worry too much.”

...Yeah, thanks.

“Yurina.”

I speak to the reflection in the mirror.

Since that day, five years ago, when I took second place at the swordsmanship tournament and returned home.

The words I’ve wanted to hear the most.

The one phrase I’ve longed for more than anything.

“You did well.”

It was really hard, wasn’t it?

You’ve been through so much.

I’m proud of you.

Even though Yuren is gone now, I’m still glad that you’re here.

So now...

You don’t have to be scared anymore.

It’s okay not to be afraid.

You don’t have to shine like the sun.

“......”

Heavy silence fell.

The reflection in the mirror starts to cry silently, tears dropping.

With a distorted expression, pulling at my hair, I sob soundlessly.

* * *

“I’m sorry, Dale!”

The day after the test results were announced.

As soon as I arrived at Yuren’s personal training ground after class, she came up to me with her head bowed.

“Huh? What are you apologizing for?”

“Well... the test results were announced yesterday.”

“Oh, yeah. They were.”

It was a headache-inducing outcome, even in hindsight.

‘I thought I could finally get out of that cursed last place...’

Whether it was a cruel twist of fate or something else, after the fight with the Crocodile Demonic Beast, I passed out from exhaustion and ended up in last place out of 253 warrior candidates.

‘If I’d known this would happen, I would’ve fought a different beast as insurance before searching for the Unicorn.’

But who could have predicted such a result?

Sighing deeply, I pressed my fingers against my throbbing forehead.

Yuren, looking like a scolded puppy, spoke up.

“...It’s because of me, isn’t it?”

“Huh? What’s because of you?”

“At the end, I dragged you into the fight, and you couldn’t hunt any other demonic beasts because of me.”

“...Ah.”

So that’s what he’d been talking about.

‘He’s misunderstood, thinking it’s his fault I came in last.’

Well, from his point of view, it makes sense.

He doesn’t know a higher-level demonic beast appeared after she passed out.

“You don’t need to apologize. The reason I didn’t catch another beast wasn’t because I got caught up in your attack.”

“...That’s a lie.”

Yurina frowned, clearly not believing me.

‘I can’t exactly tell him the full truth.’

The fact that an external beast had infiltrated the test was a secret between Professor Elisha and me.

‘Guess there’s no choice.’

Clicking my tongue, I added,

“Even if your attack had stopped me from catching another beast, it’s not something you need to apologize for.”

After all, I had also been keeping him in check to claim the Unicorn’s bell for myself.

“But... I got carried away and couldn’t control my mana.”

“Whether you lost control of your magic or not, it was a fair fight.”

There’s no reason to blame Yuren.

“In fact, I was kind of impressed.”

“...Impressed?”

“That technique you used at the end—it was your first time using it, right?”

“Ah...”

A small sound escaped Yuren’s lips.

Just like Dale said.

The final move he used, “White Light Strike,” was a technique he developed after learning something from Dale a while ago.

“Y-yeah, that’s right.”

“Wow! It looked like a really difficult technique. You must’ve practiced a lot to use it in a real fight.”

Even if Yuren is a swordsmanship prodigy, he must have put in blood, sweat, and tears to develop a variation of the White Light Strike.

“You did well.”

I lightly patted Yuren’s shoulder as I spoke.

“...Huh?”

Yuren’s eyes widened.

“What... did you just say?”

“Huh? I mean, you worked hard. That must’ve been really tough to practice, right?”

“Ah... yeah, it was.”

“Well, I didn’t see it firsthand, but even Reynald wasn’t that good at using the Sun Sword at your age.”

I chuckled and moved to take my hand off his shoulder, but then...

Yuren grabbed my hand and placed it back on his shoulder, speaking up.

“...Dale.”

“Yeah?”

“The thing you just said... could you say it again?”

“What I just said?”

“You know... the... the ‘you did well’ part.”

His face flushed red as he avoided my gaze.

“Well... it’s not that hard to say.”

I couldn’t understand why someone like Yuren, who’s used to hearing constant praise and admiration, would want to hear a compliment from me.

But I lightly patted his shoulder again and said,

“You did well.”

“......”

A short silence followed.

Yuren’s expression softened, like butter melting.

“J-just once more! One more time!”

“...You did well.”

“Hehehe.”

In all the time I’ve known Yuren, I don’t think I’ve ever seen him make such a silly, blissful face.

Even as I searched through my past memories, nothing like this came to mind.

But for some reason...

“Hehe. He said... I did well.”

With his hands clasped in front of his chest, Yuren smiled brightly, more radiant than any sun.

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]